Dramatic Reading: Lampedusa Beach

Lampedusa Beach, the first part of Lina Prosa‘s Trilogy of the Shipwrecked (Trilogia del naufragio), will be read at Pitt’s Heymann Theatre. This event is presented free of charge, thanks to our generous sponsors. Ellen Connally (Theatre Arts & French ’15) is directing the readings. Lina Prosa will be in attendance for both evenings and will conduct a Q&A session after each reading.

*English translation of original Italian text by Nerina Cocchi and Allison Grimaldi Donahue

Lina Prosa is currently among the most sought-after playwrights in Italy and Europe. She lives in Palermo, Sicily, where she directs the “Teatro Studio Attrice/Non,” a space of theatrical exploration within the “Amazon Project” (Myth-Science-Theatre), in collaboration with Anna Barbera.

A recipient of the “Critica Teatrale Italiana per la Drammaturgia 2015” award, she has the distinction of being the first female Italian writer and director to have her work performed at the Comédie-Française of Paris. Her texts have been translated and published in French, English, Portuguese, Catalan, and Croatian.

In 2014 the Trilogy of the Shipwreckedwas staged at the Comédie-Française-Théatre du Vieux-Colombier, establishing the piece internationally as emblematic of her production. Comprised of three texts—Lampedusa Beach, Lampedusa Snow, andLampedusa Way— the Trilogy on this occasion was recorded and transmitted by “Radio-France Culture” and by “Théatre des Opérations” ARTV of Québec.

In Italy the entire Trilogy is being staged in 2014, 2015, and 2016 at Palermo’s Teatro Biondo Stabile and in the 2015, 2016, and 2017 seasons by the Piccolo Teatro of Milan. Lampedusa Beach has received the “Annalisa Scafi Award” as well as the “Anima Award.”

Prosa’s work has been studied and read in some of Europe’s most prestigious universities and drama schools: Sorbonne Paris III, Lille, Avignon, Nanterre, Barcellona, Siena, Pavia, ESAD/École Supérieure d’Art Dramatique (Paris), Conservatoire de Théatre (Poitiers), École Normale Supérieure (Paris). The University of Pittsburgh’s reading of Lampedusa Beach is the first United States presentation of Lina Prosa’s work.

Lina Prosa directs the “Teatro Studio Attrice/Non,” a space of theatrical exploration within the “Amazon Project” (Myth-Science-Theatre), in collaboration with Anna Barbera